Being Vegan in Toronto

We had lived in Toronto for over five years as vegetarians and had no trouble finding ingredients to cook at home or vegetarian options when eating out. But, during our 2.5 year stint in Thailand, we had become vegan and wondered how we would fare in this city as vegans. So, we were delighted to come back to Canada’s largest city to find that our recently-adopted veganism was easy to navigate in restaurants, grocery stores and markets.

Restaurants

Toronto is an international city with residents from all over the world, which naturally lends itself to a plethora of restaurant options. Being a very “foody” city, we are happy to report that Toronto’s vegan options are plentiful and have become more commonplace than when we lived there.

Hogtown Vegan

Eager for some North American comfort food after our Asian experiences, we headed to Hogtown Vegan on Bloor Street, where we enjoyed some hearty dishes like chicken and waffles and mac and cheese. We felt comforted indeed, having left with very full bellies.

Hot Beans

Hot Beans, located in bustling Kennsington Market, serves Mexican-inspired burritos and tacos. Again, we relished in the fact that such tasty Western options were available to us as vegans.

Fresh Vegetarian Restaurant

Fresh Vegetarian Restaurant had always been a favorite of ours while living in Toronto as vegetarians. As it turned out, although this is a vegetarian restaurant, veganism is understood by the entire wait staff and the majority of the menu options were already vegan. Those that weren’t could easily be made vegan with a simple omission or substitution.

Grocery Stores

We were amazed and delighted to find that even the large chain grocery stores like Loblaws now offer a wide array of vegan products such as almond milk, Daiya cheese, yogurt made from coconut, soy or almonds, vegan pizza, vegan ice-cream sandwiches and the list goes on and on. From aisles of fake meat products and take-home dinners to a decent selection of animal milk substitutions Torontonians need not go farther than their local grocer to find a variety of vegan food.

So many vegan products to choose from!

Farmers’ Markets

Toronto is also home to several farmers’ markets where you can buy fresh fruit and vegetables from local farms as well as a variety of ready-made products made by locals. These include jams, soups and sauces. Markets can be either year-round or seasonal and although all the products sold at such markets are not solely vegan, they include a wealth of vegan options. Click here for more information about farmers’ markets both downtown and outside the city by the Toronto Vegetarian Society.

Have you been a vegan in Toronto? What was your experience?